Switch actuator



Nov. 25, 1969 w. L. CHERRY ET AL SWITCH ACTUATOR Filed July 26.

United States Patent 3,480,752 SWITCH ACTUATOR Walter L. Cherry and Robert Main, Highland Park, Ill.,

assignors to Cherry Electrical Products Corporation,

Highland Park, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 26, 1968, Ser. No. 747,850 Int. Cl. H01h 3/02 US. Cl. 200-172 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An actuator for an assembled switch including an elongated actuating lever that provides a connecting portion by which it is mounted on to and rotatable with an exposed end of the switch actuator, which connection is obtained without the necessity of special tools or application of force that would be harmful to the assembled switch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the past external actuating levers have been connected to switch actuators by a retaining washer which was press fitted upon the exposed actuator end and the external actuating lever. This action placed stress upon the assembled switch components resulting in misalignment thereof and in many instances inoperativeness of the switch. Also such type of assembly resulted in a permanent connection between the external actuating lever and the switch actuator thus limiting the employment of the switch to a predetermined environment.

The present invention resides in an external actuating lever which includes a clamping means whereby the lever may be readily and easily connected to the switch actuator after the switch has been assembled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which there is shown the preferred form of construction of the external switch actuating lever and its means of connection to the switch actuator and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an assembled switch with an external actuating lever connected thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the structural arrangement which comprises the means of connection between the external actuating lever and the switch actuator;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view taken on lines 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the connecting end of the external switch actuating lever; I

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the switch actuator;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another modified form of the switch actuator; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of yet another modified form of a connecting means for the switch actuator.

As shown in FIG. 1 the actuating lever of this invention is adapted to be associated with a switch encased in a housing 10. A rotatable switch actuator 11 projects out of the side wall 12 of the housing 10 and has connected thereto the external actuating lever 13.

Forming a part of the rotatable actuator 11 is a circular retaining plate 14. This plate 14 is journaled on the exposed end of the actuator 11 which projects out of a bearing formed integrally with the sidewall 12 of the housing 10.

A portion of the plate 14 has been formed to provide a stop finger 16 bent out of the normal plane of the plate 3,480,752 Patented Nov. 25, 1969 "ice 14 so as to lie between two spaced apart stops 17 carried by the side wall 12 of the housing 10. By the deployment of the switch finger 16 movable between the stops 17 the degree of rotation of the actuator 11 by the external actuating lever 13 is limited.

The circular exposed end 18 of the actuator 11 is provided with a slot 19 cut through the diameter thereof and to a depth up to the face of the plate 14. A circumferentially extending groove 20 is formed about the actuator 11 in alignment with the innermost end of the slot 19, as clearly shown in FIG. 3. The slot 19 and groove 20 cooperate to receive and removably connect the clamp end of the actuating lever 13 to the rotatable actuator 11.

The actuating lever 13 comprises an elongated stem 21, which at one end is reversely curved to provide an armate end 22 that continues into a first arm portion 23 that extends angularly with respect to the longitudinal length of the stem 21.

The first arm portion 23 terminates into a curved shoulder 24 that lies in a spaced relation to the stem 21 of the lever 13. A continuation of the shoulder 24 results in a concaved clamp segment 25 having a radius equal to that of the groove 20 and which terminates into a corresponding shoulder 26 which generally lies in lateral alignment with the shoulder 24 and is likewise spaced from the stem 21 of the lever 13. The shoulder 26 terminates into a second arm portion 27 which extends angularly with respect to the longitudinal length of the stem 21 in a direction diagrammatically to the first arm portion 23, and forms an extranceway 28 for the actuator 11, as hereinafter described.

In connecting the externally actuating lever 13 to the rotatable actuator 11 a portion of the stem 21 is placed in the slot 19 until it abuts the face of the retaining plate 14. The lever 13 is then moved from left to right as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 such that the stem 21 thereof will slide through the slot 19 causing the exposed end 18 of the actuator 11 to pass through the entranceway 28 between the second arm portion 27 and stem 21 until the shoulder 26 snaps about the actuator 11. At this point the second arm portion 27 will engage the circumferentially extending groove 20, and by further forceful movement of the stem 21 through the slot 19, the shoulder 26 will move through the groove 20 and snap thereabout so as to dispose the clamping segment 25 of the end portion of the stem 21 in the groove 20. The shoulders 24 and 26 will be disposed within the groove 20 on opposite sides of the actuator 11 with the clamping segment 25 within the groove 20 and embracing the actuator 11. Thus the external actuating lever 13 is connected to the actuator 11 and by movement thereof will effect limited rotation of the actuator 11.

Shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are modified forms of the actuating means that are associated with the rotatable actuator and which embody the concept of the present invention as claimed.

In FIG. 5 the actuating means or lever terminates at one end into a substantially triangularly-shaped clamping member 29, which extends in a plane normal to the elongated portion 30 of the lever and which provides arms 31, 32 and 33 spaced from each other a distance less than the diameter of the circular exposed end 18 of the actuator 11. However, because the wall 31 is partially composed from the free end 34 of the lever the triangularly disposed walls are yieldable with respect to each other such that they can he slipped over the exposed end 18 of the actuator 11 and snapped into the base groove 20 provided thereby. This arrangement prevents radial movement of the lever relative to the actuator 11 while connecting the lever thereto for rotational movement. A portion of the clamping member 29 provides, within the confines of the triangularly disposed walls, an inverted V-shaped retainer 35 that extends peripherally to the normal plane of the lever, and which is adapted to be inserted within the slot 19 formed in the end 18 of the actuator 11 to provide rotationable connection between the actuator 11 and the level.

Referring to the modification as shown in FIG. 6, the method of connecting the actuating lever to the rotatable actuator is achieved through two oppositely extending elongated loop portions 36 and 37 formed by the free end of the lever such that the parallelly extended elongated wall portions of such loops may be yieldably compressed over the exposed end 18 of the actuator 11 until they snap into the base groove 20. The lever is provided with an inverted V-shaped retainer 38 which functions in the same manner as does the retainer 35 shown in FIG. and hereinbefore described.

In FIG. 7 the actuating lever 39 may be constructed from a piece of material such as to provide a circular end 40 in which is formed a center opening 41 of a diameter equal to the diameter of the groove 20 formed in the base of the exposed actuator 11. The circular end 40 would provide a plurality of tabs 42 struck from a diameter that is equal to the diameter of the exposed end 18 of the actuator 11. By this arrangement the actuating lever 39 may be snapped over the actuator 11 with the tabs 42 bending about the actuator until they may snap into the base groove 20. As shown in FIG. 7, the circular end 40 provides oppositely extending yieldable fingers 43 which have a length greater than the tabs 42 which when the circular end 40 is placed over the actuator 11 will project into the slot 19 formed in the actuator so as to connect the actuated lever 39 to the actuator for rotation therewith.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying our invention into efiect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An external switch actuator for an assembled switch comprising:

-(a) an axially rotatable switch actuator exposed from the assembled switch,

(b) an elongated actuating means mounted on the exposed switch actuator,

(0) means provided by said exposed switch actuator for receiving portion of said actuating means for connecting the same thereto for rotational movement therewith,

(d) means on one end of said actuating means connecting the same to said exposed switch actuator with said means extending radially with respect thereto, and

(e) means provided by said exposed switch actuator cooperating with said means on one end of said actuating means preventing radial movement between said actuating means and said exposed switch actuator.

2. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 1 wherein said means provided by said exposed switch actuator cooperating with said means on said one end of said actuating means comprises a peripheral groove formed in the exposed switch actuator with said groove yieldably receiving a portion of said means on one end of said actuating means so as to prevent radial movement of said actuating means relative to the exposed switch actuator.

3. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 1 wherein said means provided by the exposed switch actuator for receiving a portion of said actuating means comprises a diametrical slot formed in the free end of the exposed switch actuator and through which is projected a longitudinal portion of said actuating means for connecting the same together for rotational movement about the axis of the exposed switch actuator.

4. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 3 wherein said means provided by said exposed switch actuator that incorporates with said means on said one end of said actuating means comprises a peripheral groove formed in said exposed switch actuator with said groove receiving a portion of said means on one end of said actuating means so as to prevent radial movement of said actuating means relative to said exposed switch actuator.

5. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 1 wherein said means on one end of said actuating means connecting the same to said exposed switch actuator for rotation therewith comprises a spring clip on one end of said actuating means frictionally contacting a portion of the peripheral edge of said exposed switch actuator to prevent radial movement of said actuating means with respect to said exposed switch actuator.

6. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 5 wherein said means provided by said exposed switch actuator cooperating with said means on said one end of said actuating means comprises a peripheral groove formed in the exposed switch actuator with said groove yieldably receiving a portion of said means on one end of said actuating means so as to prevent radial movement of said actuating means relative to the exposed switch actuator.

7. An external switch actuator as defined by claim 5 wherein said means provided by the exposed switch actuator for receiving a portion of said actuating means comprises a diametrical slot formed in the free end of the exposed switch actuator and through which is projected a longitudinal portion of said actuating means for connecting the same together for rotational movement about the axis of the exposed switch actuator.

8. An external actuator as defined by claim 4 wherein said means on one end of said actuating means connecting the same to said exposed switch actuator for rotation therewith comprises a spring clip having a portion thereof yieldably projected into said peripheral groove formed in said exposed switch actuator, and another portion of said clip projected through said slot formed in the free end of said exposed switch actuator for connecting the same together for rotational movement about the axis of said exposed switch actuator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,473,889 6/1949 Krafi 200172 XR 2,800,806 7/1957 Sangster. 3,278,716 10/1966 Sjostrom.

H. O. JONES, Primary Examiner 

